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{
    "id": 447891,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/447891/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 218,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wetangula",
    "speaker_title": "July 8, 2014 SENATE DEBATES 25 The Senate Minority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 210,
        "legal_name": "Moses Masika Wetangula",
        "slug": "moses-wetangula"
    },
    "content": " You can never sweep the truth under the carpet. That reminds me of the words of wisdom of one Aaron Ringera when he was teaching us law. I believe that Mr. Ringera was a one time partner of the distinguished Senator for Meru. He used to say that if you want to test the goodness of a law, imagine the same law in the hands of your worst enemy. If you feel safe with it, then it is a good law. I am sure that my learned senior agrees with me. This draconian Political Parties law we passed ends up giving advantage to a few parties and disadvantaging other parties and yet we know that every vote counts. You may recall that during the last Parliament, we had an election in Wajir where two candidates tied. After several recounts, they had to send them back for a by-election. That means that every single vote counts. We had a Member of Parliament called Maj. Sugow who served a whole five years having won an election with a majority of three votes. Every vote counts. That is why we should not leave the management of political parties to the chemistry and goodwill of coalitions. We in CORD have an arrangement where we put all our votes in the Presidential candidate from ODM and the funds are shared out on an agreed formula between ODM, Wiper and FORD (K). That becomes a contractual relationship after the fact. I agree with the sponsor of the Bill that any party that successfully wins an election by getting a Senator, Governor, Member of the National Assembly or even a Member of the County Assembly is not easy. On a prorata basis, there must be a mechanism of calculating how you can get the parties supported. I agree with the distinguished Senator for Meru. It is extremely sonorous to expect the very large parties like the ODM– it is only ODM because parties like TNA are enclaves within ethnic regions and are not spread out countrywide."
}